NEW YORK – Edgar Berlanga could not have felt better about his choice in a new promoter than in the moments that immediately followed his latest win.
The unbeaten super middleweight contender was on the search for a new promoter after he parted ways with Top Rank earlier this year. Brooklyn’s Berlanga eventually signed with Matchroom Boxing after fielding several offers.
Included among the rest of the pack was Golden Boy Promotions, whose co-founder and chairman Oscar De La Hoya remains embroiled in a feud with Matchroom head Eddie Hearn.
Berlanga has indirectly become a part of that ongoing nonsense. His post-fight interview following a twelve-round points win over Ireland’s Jason Quigley (20-3, 14KOs) included the suggestion from Berlanga and Hearn about possibly next facing Jaime Munguia (42-0, 33KOs) in what would be a can’t miss fight.
At least to everyone except one of Munguia’s promoters.
“#lonesomeEddie you couldn’t deliver Edgar Berlanga to Canelo [Alvarez] and now [you’re] throwing Munguia’s name,” De La Hoya mockingly asked in a tweet moments after the fight. “Good luck.”
Berlanga was made aware of De La Hoya’s tweet during his post-fight press conference.
“Oscar got to shut his mouth, man,” Berlanga told BoxingScene.com and other reporters. “Eddie’s the best in this business. People don’t understand, Eddie came from the UK. He came from another side of the fuckin’ world and he’s taken it over. He’s taken it over so rapidly.
“De La Hoya’s a crazy guy. One day he’s your friend, the next day he wanna talk sh!t about you. Obviously, you seen what happened with Canelo [Alvarez].”
Berlanga (21-0, 16KOs) is managed by Keith Connolly, the 2019 BWAA Manager of the Year who enjoys an excellent relationship with Hearn, along with Premier Boxing Champions and many other major players in the sport. Connolly also manages Sergiy Derevyanchenko and played an integral role in finalizing terms with Golden Boy and Zanfer Boxing for the Ukrainian’s terrific slugfest with Munguia on June 10 in Ontario, California.
The fight was made official nearly a month after Berlanga signed with Matchroom. The same parties would be involved in making a Berlanga-Munguia fight, which raises the question as to why De La Hoya would play the troll rather than envision the bigger picture.
“I had a sit down with [De La Hoya] right before I signed with Eddie,” noted Berlanga. “He’s a guy with an itchy Twitter finger. He just wanna type his ass off. Just chill, man. Relax.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox